The Baltic Sea and other bodies of water: eutrophication, hazardous substances, overfishing, loss of biodiversity, polluted archipelagos, rivers and lakes… Our waters have no borders. How to protect them and us? How about the voice of nature?

The Mar Menor, a highly polluted Lagoon in Murcia, Spain is the first body of water in Europe that has been declared a legal entity in the year 2022, able to sue for its own rights. A discourse that is already advanced in other parts of the world is now spreading into Europe. In more and more countries in Europe and worldwide we see serious discussions around Rights of Nature. For instance, the Dutch parliament voted on a motion to grant the Wadden sea rights. Does a new legal status for bodies of water really provide better ecological protection for them? Or does it create new conflicts of interest? Who gets to represent each body of water and by what methods? Who is the human being who gives nature a voice? Who is talking to whom? Who speaks and who listens?

Questions of representation are as well cultural and social questions and as well a rewarding artistic challenge. It is not surprising that artists, scientists, lawyers and activists are joining forces to explore this ecological-cultural complex and reflect on it in a practical way. For the panel discussion Can waters sue? Goethe-Institut Finnland invites artists and experts from different disciplines and forms of knowledge such as law, natural science, art, economy, politics and indigenous knowledge to present and to discuss their views. The participants will bring their own questions into the dialogue – exploring and relating different perspectives and understandings of the complex issue, both in theory and practice.

The event will be moderated by Taru Elfving (Director, CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago, Researcher, Centre for Sustainable Ocean Science (SOS, Åbo Akademi University Finland). Panellists include Christiane Bosmann, Jula Zenetti, Peter Jaspers, Rüdiger Strempel and Julia Lohmann. The discussion will take place in English.

The discussion will also be livestreamed.